>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are the stories we're foulinfollowing for. >> you i believe this is the challenging time of our tame. >> president obama said its time for a higher minimum wage. as the year winds down so does congress but big bills we main on the table. and looking for a stolen truck carrying extremely dangerous radioactive material. >> the clock is ticking on the first session of the 113th congress. house is back in session bu sest

the senate is still on break. libby casey joins us now from capitol hill with more. good afternoon, liby 2347 that's right, congress has a lot on its plate including the farm bill. if they don't get a farm bill passed it could cause a for the food stamp program and it could cause a problem for milk. the defense authorization act has to get passed, and unemployment benefits. long term unemployment benefits expired and they need to be renewed. president obama weighed in on that one. >> by the way, christmastime is not the time for congress to tell 1 million that they no lo

longer have employment benefits. >> the senate comes in next week so there is still time to negotiate these big-ticket items but there is still the little stuff. and it really runs the gamut. >> one of the big things is the budget. the last time congress had a fight over the budget this past october the government shutdown for 16 days. what are we facing this time? >> reporter: that's right. they made up a budget committee. the power really lies in two people. patty murray, and paul ryan. of course the vice presidential candidate last year. and they're trying to figure out a budget, they have to make

their presentation to congress. and then they're trying everything they can to avoid another government shoulddown and there is hope that it leads to some compromise can be reached. >> libby if congress is not able to get to the farm bill and some of these other important measures, are stop-gap measures the way to go? >> some things could be dealt with retrotively. things relating to the tax code they will come back and take care of them as the year gets started but that's why people are calling things like the dairy cliff an important issue. $7 for a gallon of milk is something that americans will not be happy with and they are hope that they will come some sort of bills. >> congress is under fire, for

not being very productive in the last year. >> reporter: that's right. it's being called the do-nothing congress from many quarters because of the small number of actual laws that they have been able to pass. we saw them push back today, a lot of blame getting thrown out around. and john boehner pointed the finger at democrats and the counterpoint from president obama and other democrats saying there needs to be more bipartisanship and the republicans are the cause of trouble here in washington. but a lot of issues have been on the table for a long time. the farm bill has been in talks for months and a couple of key issues keep getting in the way and republicans and democrats cannot agree on them. one example is food stamps. there are cuts on the table. how deep those cuts should go is the question of real debate. >> libby casey reporting from capitol hill. thank you. and food stamps one of the issues president obama was talking about today.

he said the income gap between rich and poor americans keeps growing. during a major speech in washington, income inequality is jeffer dieing the middle class and he wants to make sure that the economy works for everyone. who was this speech directed at. >> reporter: that's a great question. you have look it's a it italy a political spectrum. it was directed to the left. they have been very displeased, disillusioned. look flo further than the last two months, the bunkelled roll out of healthcare.gov . it has not gone well and it's reflecting poorly in the polls. there is an election coming up for every member of the house of representatives. next year there is a third up

for grabs in the senate the centecenter for american progres guaranteeing that the president's message will be amplified at the people it's aimed at. a theme that the president has concentrated on throughout the course of his speeches. echoing themes from a hundred years prior that theater roosevelt hit on. he spoke to a number of key con sit sent groups. women talking about equal wages in the work group. nondiscrimination against gays in the workplace. he talked about the affordable care act and called it a powerful piece of legislation for those in the lower rungs of the economic ladder. let's go to with a more the

president has to say. >> the idea that a child will never be able to escape poverty because she lacks the healthcare. it should offend all of us and compel us to action. we are a better country than this. let me repeat. the combined trend of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the american dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe. >> and the president also renewed his call to raise the minute page to $9 an hour. that was his proposal at the state of the union. many localities and states are getting ready to hike is well above. we talked about the relaunch, the pr offensive that the president is ranching. now that he knows all the

healthcare has been rolled out behind him, he will be speaking to youth, the so-called invincibles the you group needed to make the law a success. >> mike viqueira, thank you. the president is about to speak to a summit to sell the affordable care act. it will be a panel discussion in which young people around the country can ask questions about obamacare. 911 called made inside sandy hook elementary school to police on the day of that fatal shooting showed calmness. the district attorney said he would like to hold them because it would be too distressful for families. al jazeera's will not be playing

the yawsio o calls. al jazeera's ron mcbride has more. >> reporter: smiles for the cameras but the start of talks are expected to be tough. on biden the burden of voicing the angry of america's allies in its territory traditional stand off agaioff against china. oh. >> great power rivalry has led,

and a new relationship should head for peace. now how this great power relationship is going to play out between china and the united states remains to be seen. >> reporter: as biden arrived in beijing, state run media was already carrying criticism for his support of japan, warning america of the perils of taking side. biden faces a tricky balancing act. >> what has impressed me from the beginning, your candid and you are instructive in developing in new relationship. both qualities are sorely needed. >> reporter: biden is perhaps the best person in the current administration to doing business with shi. he has come to know him well over meetings. he called in on this beijing restaurant, a visit still

remembered fondly. they would welcome him back, they said, noting a little friendship can sign hope for both countries. >> i hope the chinese and the american people will remain friendly. >> but observers question how far it will go given the national interests at work on both sides. >> in mexico a search is underway for a truck that was carrying dangerous radioactive material. the truck was carrying cobalt 60 to a waste center when it was stolen near mexico city. we have the latest on the investigation. >> according to one of the leading officials. this is the largest amount of radioactive material that has

been stolen in ma. evidence points to it not being attached because it has radioactive material. the thieves just robbed the truck, now the driver had been tied up by a group of criminals. the driver's testimony points to the fact that these people did not know about these materials. owe he said mothethe danger is n the wrong hands. whether the group was targeting this specifically, it's in an area where they control large parts of the community, so maybe they were not targeting the item.

>> leader of hezbollah was gunned down outside of his home in beirut. we have more from beirut. >> in the driving rain hezbollah freedom to put to weiss one of its commanders. in life riddle was known publi publicbly, and in-depth some backgrounds in military. he had been a key figure. his plays dating back to the 80s. s thought that he played a big part in the war against israel, and his son was one of the fighters two died. hezbollah accused israel of being behind the killing, saying there have been several attempts in the past.

israel said that it was just a reflex without evidence. >> reporter: when an important leader like this can be shot outside of his home. also this is part of an escala escalating complain for involvement in sir yap. >> a group with a twitter came and then another twitter claim after a targeting. >> it's a tough question. is this going to stop here or this is the beginning of a major assassination against as a leadership or military week of hezbollah. that's probably the hardest question and how hezbollah will

pay for that happening. hezbollah has threated a response. al jazeera al jazeeraousous. >> the government of ukraine showed no sign of slowing up, neither do the protesters. flashers have beeclashers have g for two weeks. the demonstrations are persisting after a no confidence vote failed on tuesday. the man accused of going on a shooting spread at lax last november will be going to court today. he opened for a an fired and kig three others. there. has been a shooting at west orange high school near orlando.

one student was shot but is sill to be alert. we'll follow these stories and bring you more information as it's available. well, you may not be able to get a job if you smoke. one company won't hire people if they light up, and it may be a growing trend.

new details on what lead to that deadly plane crash in new york. the commuter train was traveling far too fast, more than 80 miles an hour down the track. the question is why? lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may

have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> a major u.s. employer has a strong message for employees. if you smoke we will not hire you. >> one of the leading humans companies on the planet with more than 8,500 u.s. employees. and today the company announced it's changing its hiring policies effectively telling future employs you cannot work for us if you smoke, chew tobacco or even use e cigarettes.

>> the question is can you engage in off duty activities. >> nationwide company is going to have to tailor their policies to the particular state they are in. there are states in which this would be unlawful. >> cigna plans to roll out it's policies in states where it's legal to do so including arizona, massachusetts, texas and florida allow to hire based on results. current employees will nod be affected unless they leave for six months or longer. they feel they have an responsibility to help their

employees live a healthy life. smoke something estimated to be responsible for 200 annual economic losses. it's detectable into "n" blood for days after use and it can be measured in hair, and saliva. >> important news at this morning on housing. sales of new homes posting their biggest jump in 33 years rising 25% last month. economies say falling prices helped fuel the increase. more encouraging data, 215,000

jobs were created in november thanks to big games and manufacturing and construction. the report came just ahead of the important labor department numbers friday. all these positive numbers not tran translating into gainse oh dow is found 65 points. it's the most wonderful time of the year. coming up, new yorkers get ready to light up the rockefeller christmas tree. tñ

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are today's headlines. we update you on our breaking news out of florida. an opportunity was shot outside of orlando. the police are still searching for the gunmen. a school sports person said that the student was taken to the hospital in critical condition. >> obama: a dangerous and growing inequality in lack of upward mobility which has

jeopardized america's basic dreamic you can work hard you can get ahead. >> the president said income inequality threatens the middle class and congress must make the economy work for everyone. vice president joe biden is meeting with flood leaders in b. a state run newspaper accused the u.s. of taking japan's side in the clash. a leader of hezbollah was gunned down in front of his home in beirut. hezbollah blames israel and israel denies the accusation. if you're lucky enough to have a job you're passionate about, you may not be lucky enough to get

the insurance to go with it. one group is trying to help musicians. robert ray has more. [ music ] >> reporter: look in any direction on any corner there is a singer, songwriter and melody maker. nashville. where local drummer andy has been playing clubs for nearly 30 years, living gig to gig with little or sometimes no health insurance. >> it's expensive. if you had any pre-existing conditions you were out of it. the nature of being a musician is a roller coaster ride. >> despite all the money that musicians bring in, over 76% of them have no axxess to group healthcare benefits. >> you would be surprised at the amount of people we've talked to in the last two to three months that probably make less than $12,000 a year.

>> reporter: that's one of the reasons a new non-profit organization working on a bear bones budget to music health alliance based in nashville has councilbeen counseling musician. >> we help them before hey get on the radio, before hey meet their heyday. >> if you have someone there sitting with you, and you're trying to navigate through the system and you keep getting kicked off, and getting back on the system, it's difficult. >> former record company executives who run the music health alliance feel the promise for a better healthcare for their beloved industry is worth the temporary frustrations of the roll out. >> a lot of it are the

implications. they don't understand what it is and they're almost afraid of going through the program. >> the fear of the affordable healthcare act, so he stopped his application. >> i didn't want to punch the button and then i have $300 to add to my meager income. now for a career musician, he he could pursue his passion for the rest of his life. al jazeera, nashville. >> reporter: i'm dave warren. we're looking at this cold arctic air pushing south out of canada. these temperatures single digits right now. when you factor in the wind

chill it could feel well below zero. with the snow coming down, the wind picking up, and looking like a cold blast, we had a for footyesterday, and that will stt whipping around. these are the wind chills. when you factor in the wind, it will feel like 30 below across north and sout south dakota. and it will extend down to cans. we have this cold air overrun by this warm air so we have rain falling into air which is at or below the freezing mark depending on how thing that is. that rain could hit the ground as freezing rain. that will continue thursday overnight into friday morning. looking at this picture here. this is what you could be waking up to across texas and oklahoma. ice about a half inch, and it's about through this area here.

a quarter to half inch of ice is what you'll be waking up to. once you get to accumulations like that you could see downed tree limbs effects power outages. that could be a big problem as this area of rain, know and sleet. we have much colder air across the northeast. >> nothing says christmas in music like the rock teller tree. tonight the christmas tree will light up the manhattan sky with $50,000 lights and a large circumstance rofsorafski stars. a student was shot at west orange high school outside of orlando. the police are still searching for the gunman. the student is in critical

condition and we'll continue to update you on that story. for now you're watching must al jazeera america. . hello and welcome. i'm phil torres, we'll talk about innovations that will change laughs. we'll look at hardware. this is a show about science by scin histories. kyle hill is an engineer, and he's investigating head-to-head combat and cutting edge technology that can help to detect a concussion before it's too late. >> lindsay moran is an ex-c.i.a. operative. she was packaging that can one day replace